Dr. Steve Rogers, Director of the Walker Career Center, has recently been honored as the 2025 Indiana ACTE Administrator of the Year. The award was announced in the Walker Careers Center’s Sept. 12 “Walker Talker” message, a weekly newsletter about events and accomplishments in the WCC.
This award was given to Dr. Rogers for his “outstanding leadership, commitment to student success and dedication to advancing high-quality Career and Technical Education at Walker Career Center and across the state of Indiana,” according to the announcement.
After receiving the award Dr. Rogers felt surprised and hadn’t expected to be given the award but nonetheless grateful for his peers in Career Technical Education.
“I found out I was nominated, and then they invited all of the nominees to an awards banquet, and I didn’t find out until they read my name to come up on stage, so it was kind of a surprise,” Dr. Rogers said. “I wasn't really expecting to win, but that was great.”
The award's purpose is to recognize administrative CTE professionals at the school, district, county, state or federal level who demonstrated leadership in ensuring teacher and student success in addition to having made significant contributions toward innovative, unique and effective career and technical education programs.
“It’s awesome that Dr. Rogers is the Indiana ACTE Director of the Year,” said Jenna Burns, business education department chair. “Knowing you work for the best in the state is something we are all so proud of.”
Dr. Rogers has been the director of the Walker Career Center for about 10 years. Prior to becoming director, he began as a teacher in Indiana in 2003 after moving from Nebraska. Three years later he began working in the Walker Career Center when he eventually was moved up to the engineering and technology department chair and then finally became the director of the Career Center in 2016.
In addition to being the director of the Career Center he is also the president of the Indiana Association for career and technical education districts.
As the director of the Walker Career Center. Dr. Rogers hopes to keep allowing students to build skills that they’ll need in their lives especially in an area that they’re passionate about. Senior Yasmin Sanchez is one example of this, gaining hands-on experience in her Certified Nursing Assistant program through the WCC. She said that exploring this career path at a young age has not only given her real-world skills she might use in a job someday, but it has also helped her build confidence in her abilities.
“It’s important that we have a career center like this because it’s an opportunity for a lot of students to explore a career path while still being in high school, which will prepare them for the real world,” Sanchez said. “Honestly, Warren students are blessed to have a career center like this because it’s giving us an early start on our future.